Emergency-fuel-supply device for fuel tanks



May 29 1928. 1,671,242

C. K. HUTHSING EMERGENCY FUEL SUPPLY DEVICE FOR FUEL TANKS Filed Aug. 1, 1927 r r /,v vcwro a; CHA R1. 56 A Harms/Nd Patented May 29, 1928.

UNITED STATES CHARLES K. HUTHSING,

or s1. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

EMERGENCY-FUEL-SUPPLY DEVICE FOR FUEL TANK Si Application filed August 1, 1927. Serial No. 209,835.

This invention relates to devices of the kind that aroused with fuel tanks of automobiles, motor boats and other apparatus of the kind that comprises an internal com bustion engine, for holding a reserve supply or emergency supply of fuel that can be used to operate the engine, in the event the tank goes dry, due to a leak in the tank, or to failure of the owner of the apparatus or vehicle to replenish the supply of fuel in the tank.

One'object of my invention is to provide an emergency fuel supply device that will insure the owner of a vehicle or other apparatus operated by an internal combustion engine, having on hand at all times an emergency supply of fuel that can be used in the event the fuel in the main supply tank becomes exhausted. 7

Another object is to provide an emergency fuel supply device for automobiles, motor boats and the like, which is of such construction and arrangement that after the supply of fuel in same has been used, said device will automatically charge itself with fuel when it is restored to its usual or normal position on the vehicle.

Another object is to provide an emergency fuel supply device of the general type mentioned, which is of such design that there is practically no possibility of the owner of the vehicle failing to replace said device in its usual or normal position after the device has been used to fulfill its function. 5

Another object is to provide an automatically refillable emergency fuel supply device for vehicles and the like, which is of such design that the supply of fuel in same can be discharged quickly and easily into the vacuum tank or other reservoir of a conventional fuel supply system for automobiles. Other objects and desirable features of my invention will be hereinafter pointed out.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a vertical sectional view, illustrating my invention, used in connection with a conventional automobile gasoline tank.

F igure 2 1s a top plan view of the removable filling cap of the tank that carries the.

container of my device, which holds the emergency supply of fuel; and

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the emergency supply container removed from the fuel tank.

Briefly stated, my invention consists of an emergency fuel supply device, composed of a container adapted to hold a small quantity of liquid fuel and removably mounted on an automobile,"motor boat or other apparatus equipped with an internal combustion en gine, in such a manner that if it is empty or substantially so at the timewhen it is arranged in its normal position, fuel will be supplied automatically to same. Preferably, said container is combined with apart of the fuel supply system of the vehicle that occupies a certain position when the "vehicle is in operation, so as to insure the emergency fuel supply device being arranged in its normal operative position when the vehicle is set in operation.

In the form of myinvention herein illustrated my device is composed of a container removably mounted in a fuel tank and constructed in such a manner that when it is arranged in its'normal or' usual position in said'tanlnfuel will pass automatically from the tank into the container in the event the container is empty or substantially so, when it is introduced into the tank; The containeris constructed so that the fuel "in same can be discharged easily intoa reservoir or other part of the fuel supply system with which the device is used, andsaid container is preferably combined with the filling cap of the fuel tank so as to make it practically certain that the emergency fuel supply device will be in its normal-or usual position on the vehicle when the vehicle is set in operation. By constructing an emergency fuel supply device in this manner I overcome the possibility of the device being inoperative or not charged with fuel at the time it is needed, due to carelessness on the part of theowner of the-device in failing to replenish it with fuel after the device has been used in a previous emergency, or due to carelessness on the part of the owner to replace the device in its customary or usual-position on the vehicle. a

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one form of my invention, A designates a fuel tank, such as is used on automobiles, motor boats and the like to hold the supply of liquid fuel that is used to operate the internal combustion engine of the ve-' hiele, and B designates the emergency'fucl container of my improved device. Said contrainer is arranged inside of the tank A and it is provided with a fuel inlet 1 of such construction and arrangement that'when the I 'tion, fuel will pass from the tank A into the container B, and thus automatically fill said container or replenish the supply of fuel in same. The container B is also provided with a fuel outl'et 2 through which fuel can be dischargedfrom said container. The container B can be mounted in the tank A in various ways, and the fuel inlet 1 and fuel outlet 2 of said container can be constructed in various i ways without departing from the spirit of my invention. I prefer tomount the container-{B on the removable filling cap C of thetank A that is used to normally close the opening in the top Wall of said tank through which fuel is introduced into the same, and I preferto form the fuel inlet of the container B from an open-endedfilling tube 3- arranged inside of the container B. with its'lower end terminating in close proximity to the bottom of said icontainer and with its upper end communicatingwith a hole or orifice in the side wall of the container B located adjacent the upper end of the container. If the tank Ais full when thctcontainer B is introduced into same,fue1 will flow rapidly from the tank into thecontainer B through the filling tube 3 and fill the container up to the level of the fuel in the tank, thus causing the container B to i be automatically replenished with fuel as soon as it is arranged in its normal positionoin the tank A; It is not absolutely essential that theta-nk A be full ofrfuel, however, when the container B is introduced into same, for theAvibrat-ion ormotioni to which the tank A is subjected by the-motion ofthe vehicle onwhichit is used,causes the fuel in the tank Alto slosh back and forth and splash intothe open upper endiof the filling tube 3. Any fuel that enters the upper end of said filling tube flows downwardly through same into the container' B, becomes trapped insaid contamer and cannotireturn to the tank A, due

tothefact that the tube 3 constitutes the only fuel passagewaybetween the tank A and the interior of the container B.

The discharge opening 2 of'the container ispreferabl-y located at the upper end of said container and is formed by a nipple4 that is screwed into the filling cap C of the fuel tank, said discharge opening 2 being normally coveredby a closure 5 that is removablyiuoun-ted on a threaded portion of the nipple 4. Any suitablemeans can be usedto permit air to escape'from the con ta-iner B while fuel is entering said container from the tank-A, the means herein shown for thislpurpose consisting of a vent tube 6 having one of its ends communicating with a vent hole in the side wall of the container B located adjacent its upper end at a point above the level of the fuel in the tank A and having its opposite end termiformed in the nozzle l. The conventional fuel supply system used on automobiles comprlses a vacuum tank or small reservoir equipped with a plug that can be removed so as to introduce fuel into the reservoir."

hen my improved emergency fuel supply device is provided with a discharge opening formed by a nozzle 4., it is a very simple matterto transfer fuel from the container B into the vacuum tank or reservoir of the fuel supply system, simply by removing the plug from the vacuum tank and then introducing the discharge portion of the nozzle l into the opening in the vacuum tank normally-closed by said plug.

i Whenthe container B is inverted to discharge the contents of same, the; fuel that fills the inlet tube 8 will escape through the open end of said tube thatcommunicates with the hole in the side wall of the container and will thus be wasted, but all of the fuel that has actually entered the container B or which has passed from the bottom end of the nlet tube 3 when the container B is in its normal position in the tank, will escape from the container through the discharge opening 2 of same, due to the fact that when the container is inverted, the end of the inlet tube 3 that is positioned inside of the container is arranged abovethe level of the fuelin said container. No fuel can escape from the container B through the air vent 6, because the tube that constitutes llU said air vent has one of its ends connected to the side wall of the container and its opposite end positioned in the discharge opening 2 of the nozzle 4 in such a way that the fuel rushes past said tube without any tendency to enter the same. Preferablythe fillingcap C is provided with a flatsurface 7, as shown in Figures 2 and 3,.so as to prevent the device from rollingif it is laid down on a flat supporting surface after it has been removed from the tank a An emergency fuel supply device of the construction above described is inexpensive to manufacture; it can be installed easilyon the fuel tank of an automobile simply by discarding the original filling cap of the tank and screwing the cap C of my device into the filling hole of the tank in which the original filling cap is positioned; it is of that when the device is in its normal or usual position on the vehicle, fuel will be supplied automatically to same, thus insuring its bein always in an operative condition, ready for use to fulfil the function for which it is intended.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: 0

v1. In an emergency fuel supply device, the combination of a fuel tank, a container removably mounted in said tank with its upper end positioned above the level of the fuel in the tank, an open-ended filling tube in said eontainerhaving its lower end terminating at a point in close proximity to the bottom of the container and its upper end con'nnunicating with a hole in the side wall of the container located adjacent its upper end, a discharge opening at the upper end of the container, and an air vent in the container located above the level of the fuel in said tank.

2. In an emergency fuel supply device, the combination of a fuel tank, acontainer removably mounted in said tank with its upper end positioned above the level of the fuel in the tank, an open-ended filling tube in.

said container having its lower end terminating at a point in close proximity to the bottom of the container and its upper end communicating with a hole in the side wall of the container located adjacent its upper end, a discharge opening in the upper end of the container, a removable closure for said discharge opening, and a vent tube having one of its ends positioned in said dis charge opening and its opposite end communicating with a hole in the side wall of the container located above the inlet to said filling tube.

3. An emergency fuel supply device for automobiles and the like, composed of a fuel tank provided with a removable filling cap,

a container on said cap that projects into the tank, an open-ended filling tube in said container having its lower end positioned in close proximity to the bottom of the container and its upper end communicating with a hole in the side wall of the container located adjacent the upper end of same, and

a discharge opening in said filling cap pro a container on said-cap that projects into the tank, an open-ended filling tube in said container having its lower end positioned in close proximity to'the bottom of the container and its upper end communicating with a hole in the side wall of the container located adjacent the upper end of same, a discharge opening in said filling cap provided with a removable closure, and an air vent in said container constructed so that fuel cannot escape from same when the container is inverted to discharge the contents of same.

CHARLES K. HUTHSING. 

